The 25-year-old boarded a boat bound for Malaysia in April, part of a wave of Rohingya refugees attempting dangerous sea crossings that led to a record number of deaths in 2025.
She spent two days and a night adrift in the Andaman Sea off Bangladesh after the overcrowded vessel carrying about 280 people sank following four days of travel.
"I managed to find a wooden plank, which I clung to for two days and one night," Begum said, noting she even…
"I hung there for two days and one night," she says, until a providential ship crossed its route. "I was floating like a dead body, but I managed to raise my head."Like thousands of others, the 25-year-old woman,...